Journeys

age 25

world ranking 49

lives oban, scotland

“I played Dustin Johnson next. . . . I knew I had him worried.”

Robert MacIntyre

The young Scot who fears no one

I’ve heard golfers say they “lived” on their local course when they were kids. Well, I literally did. My childhood home is next to Glencruitten Golf Club in Oban, Scotland. My dad is the greenkeeper and played off a plus-1 handicap at his best. From my bedroom to the 12th tee is 18 yards. It was easy for me to play a few holes late in the evening when I was growing up.

Glencruitten is 4,471 yards, par 62.

But it’s a course you need to know. There are blind shots up, over and around hills. It’s the reason iron play is my strength. You can be 160 yards out and hitting a 6-iron that has to be high, low, hooked or sliced. You need a great imagination to do well there.

My parents have fostered young kids for a long time, a home life that has

given me perspective. I remember the first time we fostered, a wee boy and girl. When my mother went to give the boy a hug, he backed off, which shocked me. He had obviously been abused. At fi rst, he and his sister would “steal” food from the fridge and store it in their rooms. They clearly hadn’t been fed properly. That opened my eyes. Before that, I used to be stroppy on the course —not much anymore.

Shinty is a cross between fi eld hock-

ey and legalised violence. It’s a stickand-ball game played mainly on the ground. You can take full swings and use both sides of the stick. It’s a Highland sport played fi rst by the clans. My papa played until he was in his 50s. I stopped at 17 only because I was worried about my hands. If I could earn a living playing shinty, I’m not sure I’d be a golfer.

From an early age I was good at golf.

In 2013, I won the Scottish Boys Stroke Play Championship and the Scottish Youths Championship. Two years later I won the Scottish Amateur. In 2016, I lost in the fi nal of the British Amateur. When I was 16, I played in the Dunhill Links Championship as an amateur. That gave me a taste of what tour golf was like, and I realised I wasn’t far short. I knew then I wanted to be a pro golfer.

I went to college at McNeese State

University in Louisiana. I wasn’t keen at fi rst. Going to America was too big a step for a wee boy from Oban. But coach Austin Burk had watched me play for Scotland in the European Team Championship and liked what he saw. I told him I’d need a full scholarship, which he off ered. That made it real. My mum told me to go for it. She said I’d regret it if I didn’t give it a shot. She was right. It was a brilliant experience.

I was homesick, but my golf was im-

proving. I made friends. I learned how to survive by myself. But after three semesters I felt like I had hit a wall. I wasn’t getting to play in big enough tournaments. It was nothing personal, but I was chasing something more. I told the coach I wouldn’t be back after Christmas at home in Scotland.

The 2017 Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club was my last event as an amateur. I played Cameron Champ and couldn’t believe how far he hit it. One drive must have been 100 yards ahead of me. But he lost the hole when I stiff ed my approach. I won 6 and 4. We played again a day later and halved our match.

I shot 79 in my fi rst event as a pro-

fessional, in a mini-tour event. That night I texted my manager, Iain Stoddart: “We’ve all got to start somewhere.” That message is still in his phone. The next day I shot two or three under, then I broke the course record in the third round. I ended up missing a playoff by a shot. Then I won the next week.

At European Tour Q school, I couldn’t

keep my driver on the planet. I was slicing everything, so I went with it. The ball was traveling 340 but going only 280. It was the only way I could keep drives in play. I made the cut, which got me status on the Challenge Tour. The next year I fi nished 12th on the money list to get my European Tour card.

For a practice round at the 2019 Open at Portrush, I put my name on the starting sheet. When I looked at it again, Ian Poulter had signed up next to me. Playing with someone of Ian’s stature would have placed me outside my comfort zone. It’s fi ne not being comfortable in the heat of battle, but when it’s something I can control, I want to be comfortable. If I’m not, I’m not going to prepare well. So I pulled out. It was me taking a step back to take two forward. I ended up fi nishing sixth. It is still the best week I’ve ever had on a golf course.

When I beat Kevin Na at the World

Match Play, I felt I had arrived. I played Dustin Johnson next. I was up early, but I knew he wasn’t going to go away. It actually gave me a boost when he holed a putt for birdie to win the 17th hole and made a fi st-pump. I knew I had him worried. We ended all square.

Before the Masters, everyone was telling me how much I would love Au-

gusta National. They were right. It’s a course where you have to “see” shots. I grew up doing that. I wasn’t surprised I fi nished T-12 to earn a Masters spot next year. I could have done better. It’s a place you have to know. Now I do.